Book Review: 日本とイギリスの自然葬法—現代社会における死の物語の再編 (Natural Burials in Japan and the UK: Restructuring Stories of Death in Modern Society)

Product details:

Author: Fuyuki Makino

Role: Book review; Nihon to igirisu no shizen sōhō: Gendai shakai ni okeru shi no monogatari no saihen 日本とイギリスの自然葬法—現代社会における死の物語の再編 (Natural Burials in Japan and the UK: Restructuring Stories of Death in Modern Society), by Miyazawa Aki 宮澤安紀

Publisher: Journal of Religion in Japan, Brill

Language: English

　

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/22118349-01402007
URL: https://brill.com/view/journals/jrj/14/2-3/article-p218_8.xml
URL: https://brill.com/downloadpdf/journals/jrj/14/2-3/article-p218_8.xml

Abstract:

The book compares natural burial practices in Japan and the UK with the aim of exploring how people today attempt to “reorganize the meaning of death by choosing new burial practices, such as natural burials, in a world where the stories of life and death that religion once provided have been lost” (pp. 4–5). Miyazawa reasons that natural burial practices are driven by multi- ple issues such as the decline in people’s religious worldviews on death as well as changes in social dynamics such as urbanization, declining birth rates, and an aging population. She also indicates that the stories of deaths previously shared by people within religious and family communities have nearly been lost, outlining the present circumstances, wherein scientific concepts of nature and ecology are emerging as a new common framework. Miyazawa posits that understanding the meaning of death—which has been discussed in a localized context in both countries within a global framework—using the concepts of “postmodernization” (p. 15) and “individualization” (p. 15) is useful; this helps to actively think about how to deal with death and the dead in Japanese society, which has the fastest aging population in the world.